I had the opportunity to wait for about an hour or so in a clinic waiting room, while waiting for a friend who was getting a medical procedure done. I thought it might be a good location to connect with people, however, I found it rather difficult to make a connection with any of the strangers there. First, there were very few people in the large waiting area, and those that were there were either engaged in quiet conversation with the friend they brought with them, or engrossed in the book they were reading. I thought about breaking the silence by saying, "Hey what's that you're reading?" but decided that if I were engrossed in reading a book, I'd probably be really annoyed by someone interupting me so they could get in their " daily random stranger connection". So, I kept quiet, but available for connection. It didn't happen - not there.
Eventually, my friend's nurse came out to the waiting room to greet me. Her name is Maria. She looked like she was in her mid-50s (though I opted not to ask her that question!). She was very compassionate and kind to my friend and I. I learned that Maria has served as a nurse in this particular clinic for about five years and has enjoyed it a great deal. Although the clinic was quiet while we were there, she said often times it's incredibly noisy and busy. She's never quite sure when her shift ends, because it's hard to predict the recovery period of any given patient. The reception area actually closes at around 4:30 pm, but she told me that sometimes she has to stay til 10 pm while she waits for the final scheduled patient to fully recover and be ready for discharge. I certainly appreciated her genuine care and concern for my friend. I felt like Maria was doing more than her job. She was connecting.
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